AROUND THE WORLD.

Plane blast deal clears way to end sanctions

September 12, 2003|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

TRIPOLI, LIBYA — A charity with ties to the Libyan government has signed an preliminary agreement to provide greater compensation to the families of 170 people killed in a 1989 explosion of a French airliner, officials said Thursday.

The accord clears the way for a vote on lifting UN sanctions from this long-ostracized Mediterranean state as early as Friday, when the Security Council is scheduled to take up a British-backed resolution. The action has been delayed three times as France threatened to use its veto until Libya satisfied the financial demands of the bereaved families.

France's objections were soothed by the reported settlement, and the resolution is expected to pass. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told British and U.S. officials that the settlement left his government "no further opposition to a Security Council vote on the lifting of sanctions against Libya as rapidly as possible."

In Libya, where leader Moammar Gadhafi has been striving to liberalize the economy and prod his nation back into the good graces of the West, officials said they were certain the vote would go their way.

The UTA DC-10 passenger jet burst into flames en route to the Republic of Congo. Gadhafi's brother-in-law and five other Libyans were convicted in absentia by a French court.